


Fill Every Space Completely

by itendswithz



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Hokage Hatake Kakashi, M/M, Paperwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 03:44:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13426098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itendswithz/pseuds/itendswithz
Summary: Kakashi learns an important lesson about paperwork and Iruka learns how some members of the Konoha community view him.





	Fill Every Space Completely

**Author's Note:**

> I’m still working on my other fics but I just had this idea that I had to get out of my system first.

Kakashi stared at the literal mountain of paperwork on his desk. He’d been signing documents, scrolls, and mission briefs all day and hadn’t even made a dent in the soul-crushing pile of responsibility stacked in endless columns surrounding him.

Despite needing to get through another three piles before the sun finished setting, the newly minted Hokage couldn’t help but wonder how the Third or Tsunade-sama managed to do the work in a timely manner. Maybe he should start drinking or smoking. Possibly both.

He was deep in an internal debate over the pros and cons of picking up a new vice, when a gentle knocking followed quickly by his office door opening pulled him from his thoughts. Normally, no one could enter the Hokage’s suite without permission. But Kakashi had long ago learned that Umino was the exception to every rule. His leniency had nothing to do with needing a distraction or how he was certain Iruka would yell if he made a snarky comment about willful chunins.

The man was dressed in a lighter version of the standard chunin gear. The usual green vest was missing and the only outward sign of tiredness he could of had, was his Konoha hitai-ate pushed back further than where it normally was.

“Tell me you’re here to save me,” Kakashi half-joked, half-pleaded.

“Quite the opposite actually,” the chunin said raising up the folder in his hands. At least Umino had the decency to look vaguely apologetic.

“No. Not more,” and there was no proof his voice was completely pleading this time. Regardless of how this story was told years later, Kakashi would always argue that he’d been dignified, to the point of practically regal, the whole time. Acting quickly, the Hokage said, “I forbidden it.”

“You haven’t filled out the right forms to forbid me from giving you paperwork.”

Ears perked, the jounin leaned forward. “I can do that.”

A sly smile crossed the teacher’s face as he responded. “Yes. When Danzo became Council Chair, he tried to stop reading Academy Requisition forms. Naturally a policy was created to prevent me from giving him forms.”

He didn’t want to follow any path Danzo created but if it saved him from paperwork, it might be worth it. “And?”

“And the policy requires you debating me on why you can’t trust the forms I give you, with the Council making the final decision.”

Kakashi forced himself to suppress a shudder at the idea of arguing against Iruka regarding policy. He’d be on the field long enough to know a trap when he saw it.

“Okay,” Kakashi said with a sigh. “Put in on the pile.”

“Unfortunately I can’t. This needs to be handled immediately.”

There was another sigh threatening to escape his cloth-covered mouth but it was unbecoming of a Hokage to sigh so much. Instead, he cleared space and gestured for Iruka to lay the file out.

Instead, the man spoke. “As you may know,” he began, “after the war, it was decided that every active shinobi would be required to have an emergency contact. I’ve come across a blank file.”

“Naruto?”

Iruka blinked at the interruption before his face fell into the same soft smile whenever anyone mentioned the jinchuriki to the teacher. “No, I’m his contact. I’m sure it’ll be Hinata sometime soon.”

“Anko?”

“No, I’m her contact too. But that has more to do with a bet she has with Genma than anything else.”

“Gai? Tenzo?”

“Kakashi!” Iruka said, cheeks redding at the familiarity. He straightened his back and corrected himself, “Hokage-sama, it’s inappropriate to ask about a ninja’s personnel file.”

“Why? It’s not like I can’t just go open any file I want.”

“You need special clearance to access the personnel files.”

“I’m the Hokage! I have all the clearances!”

Iruka smirked. “You have to fill out the appropriate documents first.”

Grey eyes boggled. There were forms for _everything_. He’d be the first Kage to die signing a pointless piece of paper.

“Regardless,” Iruka continued, smirk not dimming for even a moment. “This ninja’s contact form is left blank.” 

“Okay…” Kakashi waited for Iruka to get to the point, but the man just keep grinning. “Well, who is it?” 

Dropping the open folder with unnecessary flourish, the teacher answered the question. “It’s you.” 

“What.” 

“Oh, don’t be a sourpuss,” Iruka’s grin had shifted to something more jovial. “You’re active duty, even if 80% of your job is paperwork.” 

Kakashi just flopped back into his chair, resting his neck on the back, eyes locked on the ceiling, hands drooping until his fingers could just barely scrape across the wooden floor. He was far too tall for a chair designed for the First - who by all accounts, was a short, stout man. “Ugh, do I have to?” 

Again, Kakashi would argue, practically regal at all times. 

“Yes,” Iruka was smiling. The Hokage couldn’t see the man’s face from the angle his lanky proportions created, but he could _hear_ the smile.

__

__“Kakashi,” the chunin’s tone had softened and the chair directly across from him squeaked as a body sat. “You are the Hokage. You need an emergency contact.”_ _

__

__“But why? This job’s just paperwork. You said so yourself.”_ _

__

__“Right now it’s just paperwork. But eventually, a hidden faction or a missing nin is going to want to gain notoriety. You’re the perfect target.”_ _

__

__Dragging himself upward, Kakashi made eye contact. “Not really. There are more famous-“_ _

__

__Iruka huffed a hollow laugh. “You’re the most famous, non god-like ninja in the world. And now that you’ve lost the…” a slight pause before the man plowed forward. “Now that your eye is normal, stupid people will think you’re weaker, easier to kill.”_ _

__

__The logic rang true. The jounin shook his head lightly and looked at the emergency contact page of his file. He didn’t really have anyone to trust to make decisions if something happened to him. Images of Gai and Tenzo flashed in his mind before he dismissed them. He loved his friends but when it came to his health, they tended to over-react. And he couldn’t put that kind of pressure on Sakura or Naruto. He’d been a lousy jounin-sensei to them - choosing either of them would be selfish._ _

__

__He picked up a pen and twirled it for a secord before an idea struck._ _

__

__“And you can’t,” Iruka said placing his hand over the paper, “list yourself as your emergency contact.”_ _

__

__He stopped twirling the pen and definitely didn’t pout. “I wasn’t gonna.”_ _

__

__“You were.”_ _

__

__“No.”_ _

__

__“Kakashi!” Iruka was gearing up for a long-winded scolding. Kakashi could sense it. “This is serious. If you get hurt, someone has to be there to make decisions about you, for you. I can’t tell you you’re in a coma.”_ _

__

__The tan hand moved away slowly, ready to reach out and protect the form at the first inkling of danger. It was that thoughtfulness, that readiness to act that made up Kakashi’s mind. He pushed the pen to paper and rapidly filled out the form, skipping over the sections he didn’t know. With the spaces designated for a phone number, address and shinobi ID left empty, the page looked more blank than full. But Kakashi reached the end and scribbled the half-smudged henohenomoheji he’d been using as a signature since his ANBU days._ _

__

__He presented the form to Umino and said, “Please fill out the missing parts.”_ _

__

__Blinking slowly, the chunin lifted the folder up, turned it 180 degrees and read the half-completed page. “Kakashi. You can’t put me as your emergency contact. It has to be someone you trust.”_ _

__

__“I trust you-”_ _

__

__“You don’t even know my address!”_ _

__

__Kakashi dismissed the interruption with a wave of his right hand. He leaned back, gaze instinctively sweeping across the room. Iruka had taken up enough time that the sun had set and the Tower’s nighttime lights had flickered on. The teacher had leaned forward, completely engaged in his mission to have an established security system for a person he didn’t truly know._ _

__

__“If I end up in the hospital,” Kakashi began. “I’d want someone like you in charge. Gai and Tenzo are great, but they’re worrywarts. I’d want someone logical but not cruel or inhumane; someone freakishly organized and who knows everyone so I can trust them to get any potential orders out in an effective, efficient system. Someone kind and thoughtful but willing to push for what they thought was for the best._ _

__

__“If I ever need someone to look after my best interests, you’d be an excellent choice.”_ _

__

__Iruka’s face had never been more red. He stuttered for a moment,“I..I guess-”_ _

__

__“And, most importantly,” Kakashi interrupted because the moment had gotten too mushy for any thick-skinned shinobi. “You know how to work the system to sneak in my Icha Icha books.”_ _

__

__Iruka chuckled once. “I’ll bring in one book,” he said standing. “Of my choosing.” With that final word, Iruka gently closed Kakashi’s personnel file and walked out of the room. Not looking back once._ _

__

__If Kakashi stared at the man’s broad shoulders, strong back and trim waist as he disappeared through the doorway, it was nobody’s business but his own._ _

__


End file.
